On Saturday, February 9, 2013 1:31:55 PM UTC-5, John Clark wrote:
>
> On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 Craig Weinberg <whats...@gmail.com <javascript:>>wrote:
>
> > If geometry did not exist. Could you invent it with mathematics alone?
>>
>
> Mathematicians have invented geometries of 5, 6, 7, or even a infinite
> number of dimensions as in Hilbert space even though they have no tactile
> experience of such things.
>

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I missed it at first, but actually your example makes my point exactly. If
the universe were primitively arithmetic, it also would not require any
tactile experience to support its computations in 1, 2, 3, or four
dimensions.
This is a great topic for me because even people with very Western
orientations should be able to see that sensory distinctions are more
primitive than mathematical universalities this way, without getting into
any deep philosophical discussions about subjectivity. The simple and
unavoidable truth is: Geometry is mathematically impossible. Mathematics
has no power to generate points in space, or lines, shapes, volumes, etc.
These forms are not mathematical, they are sensory experiences, and
experiences of the visual-tangible channels of public awareness at that.
You can't get a body out of math, unless you are already expecting a body
to be possible, and you have real bodies to use to project simulated bodies
onto.
Craig
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